Had a day away from the weekly rigmarole and went fishing. Instead of fishing the eastbay where the shaker halibut are still prevalent, I went towards the Carquinez Straits to try my luck.

Started out about 10am and just casted, and casted, and casted. A few fish came up, but not that many (maybe a fish an hour). Not by any means great but good enough to keep my interest and continue casting throughout the day. #5 spinners were hurled and flung through the air with whooshing sounds of fisherman snapping their rods forward in numerous continual casts.

Fluorescent color lures of pink, chartreuse, red, and blue were tossed into the green waters in a synchronous rhythm.
I casted the hours away watching fish being caught and even netted a fish with my net for a guy to my right that exclaimed it was his first salmon ever.
As the hours rolled by, more and more people left. I was getting tired now of casting the same Shimano Sonora with 20# red Power Pro braid and 10' G-Dude/Rain Shadow rod. I went back to the car and brought back my old Lamiglas "green machine" 8'6" 12-25 heavy salmon/steelhead rod with ABU 6500C3 and 15# Berkeley Big Game line.

By now, it was already 6:30 and I was ready to go. I noticed most of fish were caught in relatively close and I had been way over-casting all day with the other rig. No problem with this round rig, I wasn't getting much distance and this did the trick. I tied up the same chartreuse , 7/8ths Mepps 5 I had been using all day and after about 15 casts, whammo, the chromer below came up. No magic, just perseverance, fortitude, and a lot of casts! There was an average of about a 1/2 a fish per rod for the total populous of anglers.

Had a day away from the weekly rigmarole and went fishing. Instead of fishing the eastbay where the shaker halibut are still prevalent, I went towards the Carquinez Straits to try my luck.

Started out about 10am and just casted, and casted, and casted. A few fish came up, but not that many (maybe a fish an hour). Not by any means great but good enough to keep my interest and continue casting throughout the day. #5 spinners were hurled and flung through the air with whooshing sounds of fisherman snapping their rods forward in numerous continual casts.

Fluorescent color lures of pink, chartreuse, red, and blue were tossed into the green waters in a synchronous rhythm.
I casted the hours away watching fish being caught and even netted a fish with my net for a guy to my right that exclaimed it was his first salmon ever.
As the hours rolled by, more and more people left. I was getting tired now of casting the same Shimano Sonora with 20# red Power Pro braid and 10' G-Dude/Rain Shadow rod. I went back to the car and brought back my old Lamiglas "green machine" 8'6" 12-25 heavy salmon/steelhead rod with ABU 6500C3 and 15# Berkeley Big Game line.

By now, it was already 6:30 and I was ready to go. I noticed most of fish were caught in relatively close and I had been way over-casting all day with the other rig. No problem with this round rig, I wasn't getting much distance and this did the trick. I tied up the same chartreuse , 7/8ths Mepps 5 I had been using all day and after about 15 casts, whammo, the chromer below came up. No magic, just perseverance, fortitude, and a lot of casts! There was an average of about a 1/2 a fish per rod for the total populous of anglers.

Beauty! How much did he weigh?_________________Fungaiolo/Cacciatore/Pescatore

Had a day away from the weekly rigmarole and went fishing. Instead of fishing the eastbay where the shaker halibut are still prevalent, I went towards the Carquinez Straits to try my luck.

Started out about 10am and just casted, and casted, and casted. A few fish came up, but not that many (maybe a fish an hour). Not by any means great but good enough to keep my interest and continue casting throughout the day. #5 spinners were hurled and flung through the air with whooshing sounds of fisherman snapping their rods forward in numerous continual casts.

Fluorescent color lures of pink, chartreuse, red, and blue were tossed into the green waters in a synchronous rhythm.
I casted the hours away watching fish being caught and even netted a fish with my net for a guy to my right that exclaimed it was his first salmon ever.
As the hours rolled by, more and more people left. I was getting tired now of casting the same Shimano Sonora with 20# red Power Pro braid and 10' G-Dude/Rain Shadow rod. I went back to the car and brought back my old Lamiglas "green machine" 8'6" 12-25 heavy salmon/steelhead rod with ABU 6500C3 and 15# Berkeley Big Game line.

By now, it was already 6:30 and I was ready to go. I noticed most of fish were caught in relatively close and I had been way over-casting all day with the other rig. No problem with this round rig, I wasn't getting much distance and this did the trick. I tied up the same chartreuse , 7/8ths Mepps 5 I had been using all day and after about 15 casts, whammo, the chromer below came up. No magic, just perseverance, fortitude, and a lot of casts! There was an average of about a 1/2 a fish per rod for the total populous of anglers.

Beauty! How much did he weigh?

Maybe about 12 pounds or so on the conservative side. I didn't put it to scale but it was one of the bigger fish caught of the day._________________Well, you lose one you rig one -Quint

NIce fishing! Going to try it myself... What retrieval speed works best ? Should we go slow or fast ?

Thanks, I think a slow, steady retrieve is best. Of course, don't reel slow enough to get it snagged on the bottom. If you do, use the "water bottle trick" or the "bow and arrow trick" to get unsnagged!
Okay, if you Fish 1st Street Benicia for instance, don't fish the 7/8ths. Fish the 3/8ths because it is not that deep (maybe 10') and you don't want to get snagged from the heavier spinner dropping too fast. If you fish the State Park or L Street, 7/8ths because of about 20'. And, real important. Vary your casting distances. Many times salmon will chase the spinner all the way in, as it is a reaction/protection of the nest bite, and will bite in the last 50' before they snap at it. I casted all day, way long. But, finally realized after hours that all the fish caught were on short casts of 50' or less .
Color of spinner doesn't really matter save overcast days. Then, maybe back/orange or maybe gold may be the winner. But, don't take my word, I always ask Pam at Benicia Bait & Tackle to pick a winning color for me!_________________Well, you lose one you rig one -Quint